How Many
by Kitt21
Summary: Lewa?" Lewa looked at her, a smile on his mask and love in his eyes. "How many years have I been here?"


**Disclaimer. I do not own Bionicle or any character asociated with. I only Own my O.C. This is my first Bionicle story. It is an attachment to another story I'm currently writing and will post as soon as its finished, but this can stand on its own. I hope you like it. If not, you don't have to say anything about it. But reveiws are appreciated. **

**How Many**

It happened early one morning. Heather lazily opened her eyes and took in her home. The hut she shared with Lewa in Le-Koro was the same as always. Messy. Table strewn with tablets and tableware, Heather's cloaks laying in a pile near the door, the shelves filled with the trinkets she loved to craft with her powers. Everything the same. She felt movement next to her. Looking besides her, she saw Lewa waking up and stretching.

"Good morning beautiful." He told her. She always loved it when he called her that, he started when he heard her sing a song by that name. "Hey." She muttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. He smiled and hugged her close. She smiled herself and embraced him, but the feeling stayed. A feeling deep inside her heart. A feeling like she lost someone very, very important. But everyone was still alive. All the Toa were in their villages and the Turaga were with them. There had been no attack from any enemies for such a long time, that she had forgotten what the feel of battle was like. Or maybe she was wrong. Maybe something horrible had happened last night.

"Lewa," She spoke barley above a whisper. He released her and looked into her eyes. "I would like to see the others today. If that's ok with you?" Lewa blinked at her, but then smiled.

"Surefine we can see the others." Heather smiled, hoping she was wrong, that maybe she was suffering from a nightmare that she couldn't remember. She really hoped her feeling would go away once she saw her adoptive brothers and sister.

Lewa allowed Heather to get a good hold on him as he took out his air katana and took off from a platform in Le-Koro. They were heading to Ta-Koro first. Heather was able to convince Lewa to take her to each Koro so as not to bother the other Toa or scare them into thinking there was a crisis by calling another meeting at Kini-Nui. Heather tried to relax herself, so as not to worry her husband. Lewa was the most carefree of the Toa, but he sure was the most protective of them, especially with her.

They landed lightly on the ground outside of Ta-Koro, allowing the Ta-Matoran guard to open the gate and allow them entrance. They were happily greeted by Takanuva and Tahu, well Takanuva greeted them happily while Tahu looked indifferent. Heather rushed up to the golden Toa and gave him a big hug, a large smile on her face.

"Whoa! What's this for, not that I'm complaining." Takanuva grinned. Heather just shook her head.

"Just missed you." Takanuva was confused, but hugged her back. When they finished, she hugged Tahu as well. Tahu, who usually didn't like to be touched by others, was used to Heather's need for comfort sometimes. He gave her a quick hug and gently pushed her away.

"So what brings you here?" The Fire Toa asked. Lewa came up behind his wife and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"We just came for a quick visit. I missed you." Heather tried to sound convincing, the bad feeling in her heart still there. Takanuva smiled, completely buying her story. But Tahu wasn't as easily fooled as the youngest Toa was. He gave the smallest Toa a look that said so. She just ignored him and kept her fake smile on her mask as she and Lewa chatted with the Light Toa.

"We should quickgo if we're going to see the others." Lewa told Heather. She nodded and waved at her two brothers. They waved back as the couple started toward the bridge. But Heather ran back to them and gave each a quick hug.

"I love you both, you know that?" She looked up at them quickly but ran off before they could answer her. She ran back to Lewa and wrapped her arms around him. He smiled and took off. They went to Ga-Koro next. They landed at the edge of the floating village. Hahli and Kotu where there and greeted them.

"Toa! What are you doing here?" Kotu asked. Hahli shook her head and smiled, though it was still hard for Heather to tell with those masks that didn't have mouths on, but the twinkle in her eyes and her slight chuckle hinted to a smile.

"What can we help you with Toa?" The new chronicler asked. Heather pasted that fake smile on her mask and answered.

"We just came to see Gali. We haven't talked in a while and I missed her." Hahli nodded and asked Kotu to get Gali. Lewa and Hahli talked while Heather brooded on her feelings. The bad feeling was still there, nestled in her chest right in her heart. It was different from the ache in her chest when she had to pretend to be Tahu. It was more like a hole had opened up in her heart, something was…

But before she could analyze her feelings more, Gali arrived. The meeting went much like how it went in Ta-Koro, even Heather giving Gali a hug before they left. They went to the rest of the villages and greeted the other Toa similar as well. Heather even got up the courage to hug Kopaka, who didn't even move. Everything was alright, everyone was alright, the island was alright. So why was her bad feelings still plaguing her.

"Are you alrightfine love?" Lewa asked as they arrived back at their hut in Le-Koro. Even though she tried to hide it, he had sensed something was bugging her.

"Yes hon." Heather spoke, slipping into her old worlds slang. "Just something bugging me. Maybe I'm just being paranoid again." Lewa made a 'hm' noise and wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin. He didn't know what was wrong with his love, but he _did _know that she needed comfort and that if it was important, she would have told him.

While she let him hold her, Heather continued to examine her feelings. The 'hole' was still there. She couldn't identify it. She remembered only feeling this way twice in her lifetime, both in her old life. Once, with her great-grandmother when she was little, and the second, with one of her close friends much later on. Both incidences shared one thing. Both died. After she mourned them, she noticed a hole in her heart where her great-grandma and friend had been. But this made no sense. All of her friends and family were alive……well, not entirely all her family. There was her other family from her previous life. Her human family. This made her wonder.

"Lewa?" Lewa looked down at her, his eyes shining with concern. "How many years have I been here?" Lewa, used to his wife asking questions out of the blue, smiled sweetly.

"You have been with us for 10 years." Heather felt her heart break at that, but refused to let her careful mask of happiness slip.

"That's a very long time, well, long for me anyway. Maybe we should celebrate, have a party or something. I'd bet Matau and Kongu would like that." Lewa smiled.

"That is a greatwonderful idea. I'll go tell Matau right away." He hugged her once more and placed a kiss on her mask before leaving to begin preparations for the party. Heather watched him go, with the forced smile still in place. When she was sure he was gone, she threw herself onto their bed and started sobbing. 10 years. _10 years_! No wonder she was feeling like this. When she changed into her new form and was accepted into the Toa Nuva's team, she knew she could never see her family again, but she was alright with that. As long as they were alive, she was happy. Yes she felt alone and homesick every now and then, but this was different, like when her friend and great-grandma died.

And she could only think of one reason for these bad feelings. Her grandparents. When she left, her grandparents were in their late 60's early 70's. She knew that time flowed equally between this place and her old home, so it wasn't hard to figure out how old they would be. Add the 10 years, and there was no doubt. They passed away. She cried for what felt like hours, letting her grief take over. She woke up hours later, the moons were out. The blanket was pulled up over her and she felt Lewa's arms wrapped around her waist. She sat there, thinking of something to do to try and appease her grief. She didn't want the others feeling sorry for her. She decided to think about it more in the morning and drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, she left Le-Koro and headed to her favorite spot. A cliff overlooking the ocean. It was a peaceful place where she would come to think. Now it would serve other purposes. She concentrated and held her hands out in front of her. Summoning her power, she created a metal slab that came out of the ground. It was smooth and made of Protodermis, the hardest metal she could think of. She fingered the smooth texture for a moment before concentrating again. This time she morphed the metal to create writing. It held her own native language and the Matoran. Written on it were two names. She wanted to use their full names, but remembered that they hated their first names, so used the names she used for them.

"Papa. Mema. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, but please know that I love you and will always remember you." Then she pulled out two things she had made with her powers. One was a naval carrier ship, because her Grandfather was in the Navy and the other was a small doll that resembled a porcelain doll, but made of other materials, because her Grandmother loved collecting them. She placed both at the base of the memorial.

"I hope you both find peace. I love you." She let herself cry some more before she pulled herself together and headed home, there was a party going on in her honor and she didn't want to disappoint Lewa, Matau, or Kongu.

For many years Heather happily lived her life. She visited the memorial to talk to her Grandparents often, feeling a bit of closure in doing so. But then one day, she felt the same bad feelings as before, the 'Hole' had come back. But this time she was ready for them. Waking up, she looked at Lewa as he stretched.

"Good morning beautiful." He smiled. She smiled back.

"Lewa?" He looked at her with eyes filled with sleep and love. "How many years have I been here?" He smiled at her.

"Well let me think….aboutalmost 50 years." Even though she was prepared for it, Heather still felt her heart twinge at the thought. "Let me guess, another party?" He sleepily asked. She was glad he was still tired, so he wouldn't notice the effort she was putting into her smile.

Later that day, two more names were added to the memorial, and two more gifts added to the pile. A dolphin and a race logo accompanied the Naval ship and doll.

"Momma, Dad. Please find peace." She cried and went home. She needed some comfort from Lewa.

The final time the 'Hole' appeared, it was so long that Heather almost forgot about it. And she still wasn't prepared for the feelings to come. She was walking in the forest with Lewa, hand in hand, when the feelings crept up on her. She was feeling a sense of foreboding earlier, like something bad was gonna happen. But when the 'Hole' appeared and not an enemy, Heather wished that it _had _been the Makuta she was sensing.

"Lewa?" Lewa looked at her, a smile on his mask and love in his eyes. "How many years have I been here?" He smiled at her. "Almost 100 years." He pulled her into a hug. "So long, yet still I feel like we only just met the other day." She really missed his Le-Matoran accent. But when you spend most of your time with someone or at someplace, you tend to pick up or drop a few things. He probably dropped it on purpose to make it easier for others to understand him. She smiled at him and they continued on their walk.

Later that day, as the suns were setting, two final names were added to the memorial and two final gifts were added to the pile. Two small charms, made from her own armor. One a small calf the other a frog. They were placed right next to the dolphin and race logo.

"Sister, Brother. I'm sorry that I left you so long ago and that I caused you pain. I love you both so much. You will all be in my heart forever." She cried and began to leave, feeling sadness. The wind blew from the ocean and stirred the trees, causing them to sway. Heather prayed that a storm wasn't coming. Then she felt something land on her mask. Taking her hand up, she felt something soft. She pulled it out and was surprised at what she saw. It was a pink carnation flower. But there were no such things as carnations on Mata-Nui, most of the plants from her world didn't even exist on the planet, let alone the island. She blinked and looked in the trees. Seeing nothing, she looked around. Something caught her eye and she stopped dead in her tracks. She thought she saw familiar faces watching her and waving, smiling happily at her.

She quickly turned to look but only saw the memorial. But the gifts were gone! Heather was very shocked by this. She ran to the memorial and looked around, Maybe the wind blew them around somewhere? But she didn't find them anywhere. She looked at the memorial in confusion, then at the flower in her hand. It was still there. Then she smiled and placed it back on her mask. She smiled at the memorial, then up to the sky. She pretended that her family was watching her and waving. She brought her arm up and waved too, feeling so much lighter than she felt in a long, long time. Turning, she left for Le-Koro. It was time to talk to Lewa.

Somewhere far away, a small family watched over their missing member as she lived her life with someone she loved, a family that loved and cared for her, and friends that would do anything for her. They all smiled and held their gifts close, waiting for the day when it was Heather's time to come (but hoping it wasn't too soon), so they could thank her.

**Thats my story. I hope you liked it. I know I made Lewa a bit o.o.c. but I was concentrating on my O.C.(And Lewa's talking is hard to write) Please don't flame me, I really did try hard. I don't know how this rates but I have it on T just to be safe. **


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